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C & C
GROUP
PLC
C&C Group are behind best selling and leading Irish cider brands
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Raise Your Glasses C&C Group have developed and created a very good business and production strategy, where they have developed a multi-beverage model that is true to their ethos of being a truly local producer Writer Matt Bone Project Manager Glen Newton
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C & C
GROUP
&C Group plc are a manufacturer, marketer and distributor of branded cider and beer, proudly based in Dublin, Ireland. The Group are behind the best selling and leading Irish cider brands Bulmers and the widely regarded premium international cider Magners. The company also makes and distributes Tennent’s Lager, the iconic Scottish drink.
Keeping Up With Demand
In 2005, C&C were an Irish business selling cider to the local Irish market, but in 2006 the company launched the Magners brand to the rest of the UK, which became a major success. However, to keep up with demand from the UK market, the company decided to invest heavily in order to meet the projected sales of the cider. The Board of Directors appointed three new executives to run the business and by
Porter Lancastrian Ltd
Instead of just selling beer and cider, C&C Group have also branched out into wine, spirits and soft drinks in order to expand their market reach in order to further strengthen their position at the top”
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orter Lancastrian Ltd is a leading manufacturer of drinks dispenses fonts and associated branding. Operating from their manufacturing headquarters in Chorley in North West England they trade globally, supplying the worlds brewers and brand owners. With ‘in house’ design, manufacturing, and engineering facilities together with a ‘state of the art’ digital print facility they are your ideal partner to design and manufacture all your Point of Contact merchandise requirements. They have a long trading relationship with C&C Group. They recently supplied the innovative multi media tap marker for the Bulmers brand. This innovation brought multi media content to the bar top, for the first time. This allowed the brand owner to achieve powerful brand awareness at the customer point of contact. Other developments have included the Magners Golden Draught tower and more recently they have provided a customized ‘Chaplin Bistro’ from their range for the launch of Heverlee, the Belgian Premium Lager. Current developments include the choice from the “Spinal Tap” range, of the “Vega” tower to launch the Clonmel 1650 brand. Porter Lancastrian Limited Lower Healey Business Park Froom Street Chorley Lancashire PR6 9AR England Asia Office: Porter Lancastrian Limited Suites 715-716, 7/F, Shatin Galleria, 18-24 Shan Mei Street, Fotan, Shatin, New Territories, Hong Kong Tel +44 (0)870 871 0113 Email sales@porta.co.uk
www.porta.co.uk
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C & C
GROUP
2009 the company were in a position to acquire the Irish, Northern Irish and Scottish business arms of AnheuserBusch InBev, including the Tennent’s brand; thus expanding their business into the Scottish market and paving the way to a brighter future.
A Multi-Beverage Strategy
The company’s diverse and highly successful wholesaling approach has cemented the Group’s position as a market leader. Instead of just selling beer and cider, C&C Group have also branched out into wine, spirits and soft drinks in order to expand their market reach in order to further strengthen their position at the top. As well as this multi-beverage strategy, C&C are also trying to break into the niche beverage market by investing in craft brewing. The company have made two investments in the last 12 months in the craft brewing sector and have recently built a small brewery on their Clonmel site in Ireland. The development has a capability of 100,000
hectolitres of beer a year. The intention at the start was to create a new Irish lager called Clonmel 1650, as 1650 was when Cromwell invaded Clone Mill. In Scotland, C&C Group are just about to open a new site called Drygate, a joint venture with Williams Brothers. It will be a very small brewery being built with a restaurant and a bar with a sales outlet. The company have refurbished an abandoned building and view this as a way into this smaller crafts brewing sector.
Local Roots, International Appeal C&C are proud of their origins however, they owe a lot to the strength of the UK cider and beer market. The company have always had a strong position in Scotland and Ireland; Ireland because of their origins and Scotland has been a major acquisition in the last five years. C&C are now focused on continuing to achieve sustainable growth across England through cider and beer, which is greatly assisted by summer sales of alcohol.
Innserve Innserve in partnership with C&C
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nnserve are the sole dispense technical services solution provider to C&C Group plc. Our role is to ensure all C&C’s world leading brands are continually delivered to its customers at the highest quality. By offering an all-encompassing service from inbound telephony to post work completion quality audits we are committed to meeting all of C&C’s expectations. Through the use of UK based supply chain we are support C&C International with the supply of dispense equipment to all the world markets they are currently operating in. One of the key drivers in the UK on trade is consistent quality and via our own research and development team we are constantly striving to offer the highest quality dispense equipment to deliver quality in glass. Innserve is the largest national drinks dispense service company in the UK. The company supplies, installs and maintains drinks dispense systems in over 75,000 outlets. With 350 vans serving England, Scotland and Wales and a Customer Service Centre which is open from 9am to 9pm 365 days a year, from 9am to 9pm, Innserve prides itself on ensuring pubs receive the best immediate, technical support possible so beer continues to be served to the highest quality and customers keep coming back for more. For more information about Innserve, please visit www.innserveltd.co.uk.
Tel 0845 877 0089
www.innserveltd.co.uk
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C & C
GROUP
Parker domnick hunter
C
ider choice and consumption continue to grow, and quality specifications are increasing to reflect consumer needs and the extended shelf-life required for products that travel further afield. Aside of live and cloudy ciders, the emphasis for the majority of volume produced is to provide consumers with a fresh tasting, visually brilliant product. Microfiltration, typically aimed at removing particles and organisms that are invisible to the naked eye, is essential in assuring the quality of ancillary fluids such as carbon dioxide, steam and water. For cold stabilised products, whether in glass, PET or keg, the final filter must provide a guarantee of protection against spoilage organisms. The long-standing relationship between Parker domnick hunter and the C & C Group relies upon an open and trusting application-led approach to the selection and sizing of filtration solutions. The choice of filter is a balance between two primary aspects: 1. Filtrate quality. This is defined by the retention rating of the filter and can be matched to qualified removal efficiency of particles or specific organisms. 2. Service life. This is a function of filter design and the methods adopted during process operation, cleaning and sterilisation. Introduction of enhanced filter designs, and technical support in the form of development of, and training in, operational protocols are essentials to maximise service life. This proven approach enables Parker domnick hunter to strive toward their ongoing commitments to provide quality and economy and to support continuing process optimisation. Tel +44 (0)191 4105121 Email dhprocess@parker.com
www.parker.com/dhbeverage
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Parker domnick hunter commitments
Protecting
quality and taste for 50 years
With the ever-increasing choice of cold beverages, the emphasis on the majority of volume produced is to provide consumers with a fresh tasting, visually brilliant product. Whether producing premium varieties or own-label supermarket brands, quality specifications are increasing to reflect consumer needs and the extended shelf-life requirements for products that travel further afield. Since 1963, Parker domnick hunter has partnered with beverage producers to meet their changing needs. Through a structured application-led approach, we can provide options for various levels of clarity and microbiological stability throughout the production process, whilst demonstrating proven cost reductions through operational efficiencies and filter design. Quality, economy and continuing process optimisation are our ongoing commitments.
www.parker.com/dhbeverage North America: toll free: +1 877 784 2234 email: dhpsales.na@parker.com Europe: phone: +44 (0)191 4105121 email: dhprocess@parker.com
C & C
GROUP
C&C Group have played an important role in the sponsorship of sports teams over the years. The Magners brand was the title sponsor of rugby union’s Celtic League beginning in 2006–07, when the league featured the top teams from Ireland, Wales and Scotland, and ending with the 2010–11 season. In 2013, Magners replaced Tennent’s Lager as the main jersey sponsor for Celtic F.C. after the previous contract had expired, with Magners sponsoring Celtic’s shirts for three years. On 20th August 2013, Celtic wore the Tipperary Natural Mineral Water logo on the front of their shirts for their UEFA Champions League first-leg clash with FC Shakhter Karagandy due to Kazakhstan’s restrictions on alcohol advertising. Celtic switched to Tipperary Water as it is also owned by the C&C Group. The company view their sponsorship in sports, as an investment in the community and to local customers.
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Chr. Hansen
C&C are now focused on continuing to achieve sustainable growth across England through cider and beer, which is greatly assisted by summer sales of alcohol”
Chr. Hansen, based in Denmark and represented across the globe, is the world’s market leader in high grade natural colour solutions. We specialise in providing natural colour solutions to the food, beverage and health food industries. At Chr. Hansen we pride ourselves on quality and reliability. With more than 40 technical natural colour specialists and more than 10 natural colour expertise centres around the world, we are focused on producing innovative solutions for today’s challenges. Our in-depth understanding of major food industries combined with our extensive food colouring and ingredient knowledge mean that we are constantly developing and improving our product solutions. Our policy of working closely with customers to develop innovative solutions continues to bring brighter futures to individual product needs. Tel +44 (0) 1488 689800 Email techservice-gb@chr-hansen.com
www.chr-hansen.com
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The Cobell complete service: • NFCs • Concentrates • Purees • Preparations and Natural Flavourings Bespoke blends to meet individual requirements Aseptic or frozen formats
www.cobell.co.uk
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C & C
GROUP
Minimum Pricing Changes
With the alcoholic beverages market driven by consumer tastes and trends, C&C Group are continually looking at new ways to invigorate their products and keep ahead of the trends that change with the seasons. One such trend that is coming, not from the consumer, but from the government, is that of minimum pricing and strength of alcohol. The English government have been discussing minimum pricing for strong ciders and alcohol recently on the back of focus group campaigns about high strength products and the size of container the product is held in. A prime example of this is a 2-litre bottle of cider, which carries a high alcohol percentage.
From Ireland to America
C&C Group are always on the lookout for strategic and viable expansion opportunities both in the UK and abroad. One such foreign market is that of the USA. C&C Group has always had an export division and have already moved into the American market with early success, but with the US markets looking more and more viable, the group are looking to capitalise on this. C&C Group proudly holds the number one position in Ireland with Bulmers, the number one position in Scotland with Tennent’s Lager, and various top products in England, therefore the next logical step is to invest in cider internationally, in particular the US market. Getting the product to market is organised by a dedicated sales team who organise distributors and sales. C&C Group produce and package local to their market so the cost of shipping is greatly reduced, with the exception of the American and UK markets, which are supplied from Ireland and Scotland. With the American market opening up, the company may invest in brewing overseas in the long term, but right now product is sent over from Ireland.
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C&C Group produce and package local to their market so the cost of shipping is greatly reduced, with the exception of the American and UK markets, which are supplied from Ireland and Scotland�
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Planning for the Seasons Planning plays a pivotal role in an operation, but in a market that is as seasonal as alcohol production, C&C Group have had to plan that bit harder. Sales vary between the various products in the group’s portfolio, but cider is the most seasonal product currently on the books. It is one that always sells well in hot weather and not so well in winter, giving it definite peak season. On the other hand, beer is more stable, although it does still rise in the warmer months and also at Christmas and New Year festivities. Sporting events are also a very big draw for the alcohol market, and with the World Cup finals currently taking place during June and July, demand for alcohol will be at record levels.
Success Breeds Success
Over the years, C&C Group have developed and tweaked a very good business and production strategy, where they have developed a multi-beverage model that is true to their ethos of being a truly local producer who never neglects local markets. It is not just the local approach that has served them well; with strong leadership and teams that drive the multi-beverage business model forward, C&C Group can focus on crafting their strategies and marketing campaigns to incorporate new ideas.
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En q u i r i e s Tel (UK): +44 (0) 1603 559 151
C&C GROUP PLC
ben.weaver@outlookpublishing.com
3rd Floor
S U B S CR I PT I O N S
Block 71, The Plaza Parkwest Business Park
Tel (UK): +44 (0) 1603 559 152
Dublin 12
matthew.bone@outlookpublishing.com
Tel: +353 1 616 1100
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Fax: +353 1 654 6272
www.candcgroupplc.com